Turkey teeth: All about the viral trend that is leading to serious dental issues in Britons
Turkey teeth is the name given to a viral trend where people are travelling to Turkey to get extremely white and perfectly shaped teeth. The downside is it could lead to death of your teeth and cause serious complications.
Turkey teeth trend, popularised by reality TV stars like former Love Island star Jack Fincham and Katie Price, is taking a toll on dental health of thousands of Britons as they are suffering from serious dental issues like dead stumps, abscesses and nerve damage post their cosmetic dental procedures in Turkey. Turkey teeth is the name given to a trend where people are travelling to Turkey to get crowns which involves shaving the teeth to almost 70% to get that perfect smile at a much cheaper rate compared to similar dental treatments in countries like UK. (Also read: Impact of teeth aligners on daily lifestyle: Dentists share insights)
A survey was done by BBC News on 1,000 UK dentists out of which 597 said that they had treated patients who had experienced complications after visiting Turkey for dental work. While some people are going for veneers which involves filing a small part of the tooth, most of them usually get crown for which almost 70% of the teeth has to be removed.
Dental experts however say that the procedure could put one at risk of nerve damage, death of teeth, severe pain, gum abscess and pulpitis. Root canal has to be done to fix this problem which could add to the expenses later. In addition to these complications, veneers or crowns are temporary and need to be replaced every 5-15 years which could be very expensive.
"A new term for the extremely white, extremely square teeth that millennials and social media influencers in particular are eager to have is 'Turkey teeth'. Turkey teeth refers to a dental operation that individuals have performed overseas, primarily in Turkey. And the principal reason why people choose to have Turkey teeth is a substantial reduction in the cost of this procedure in Turkey," says Dr Suman Yadav, Head of Dental Department in Healing Tree Hospital, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad.
"People do rush to Turkey because it is a place known for cosmetic treatments. Second thing is that the westerners go there because of big cost cut. Third reason is that Turkey technicians are known for their good hand work," Dr Geetha K Patil, Consultant - Dental Science, Fortis Hospital, Cunningham Road, Bangalore told HT Digital.
"Patients who opt for Turkey teeth have a variety of options to choose from for the implanted caps, including shape, material, and colour, which, in their opinion, will result in a sparkling white Hollywood smile. However, many times these teeth are bigger than they should be and also much whiter, making them seem exceedingly fake. There have been concerns that this surgery is indeed very painful and complications like nerve damage, tissue damage, severe pain, swelling and redness, difficulty in chewing is reported," says Dr Yadav.
Dr Patil says if one compares veneers and crowns, the former do not last long and crowns are better and long lasting. The dentist adds that for getting crowns tooth structure has to be reduced and rebuilt with ceramic. The dentist says this could create problems.
"When we prepare the teeth for crown, since a lot of tooth structure is lost, this increases the chance of patient developing pain and experiencing a lot of sensitivity because the whole of enamel structure will be lost and they might even develop gum abscess and pulpitis," says Dr Patil.
Dr Jamshed K Tavadia, Consultant Dentist, Masina Hospital says 'Turkey teeth' gaining popularity because of the lesser cost of the dental treatment in Turkey than the first world countries like UK, US, Germany France etc but the real problem is the lack of ethical practices.
"As a dentist in Mumbai, India we too attend to many patients from abroad and we try and provide the best possible treatment at an Indian market price. Similarly in Turkey because the dental fees is less, laboratory fees in not as high as UK, dental treatment becomes more affordable. Now quality of work depends on the dentist and not which country he or she originates from. The skill and ethics followed by a particular dentist will remain as an integral part of his or her practice; whether they move abroad or practice in Turkey or India won't make a difference. Unfortunately, there will be and have been cases which have shown some side effects due to the unwanted treatment plans or unethical execution of the dental work to extract money from the patient. Such practitioners should receive strict notice from their respective dental council. A good ethical dentist in Turkey will do a better job than some unethical and inexperienced dentist in any first world country. Like I said before, it depends on the dentists' skill and ethics and not the geological location," Dr Tavadia told HT Digital in a conversation.
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